lcc1_

I just got back from an AWESOME European vakay that covered the cities described above. My first time overseas...plenty of sleep deprivation BUT well worth it!! We started off in Paris for five days. Overall, Paris was OK I wasn't really that impressed with it. Although just seeing the Eiffel at night (must see) made the trip all worthwhile. Luckily my traveling companion spoke enough French so we got around the city pretty good. My favorite neighborhood has to be St. Germain where it is just filled with just about every cuisine from Greek to plenty of Asian. Paris is a very diverse city which is GREAT! St. Germain is also filled with unique jewlery shops. The nicest and quite affordable jewlery there. Best cuisine we had in Paris was the Greek restaurant (Les Argonautes-highly recommended) we went to...we had seafood skewers. The seafood was SO FRESH like they just caught it. The best seafood I have ever eaten! The other big thing is Champ Elysee..that whole area is alive and kicking at all hours of the night!! They really party hard! As far as hotel...it is not a 3 star hotel in American standards. The room was really tight..a shower with no shower curtain (it was quite a feat trying to keep the water in the tub?? lol). Overall, I was not THAT impressed with Paris, I just didnt feel it.

Now Rome...what a city!!! Just truly breath taking! I am finding it hard to come up with descriptive words...just something you have to see for yourself. It was way BETTER then Paris 10 fold! Just the city, people, the culture..truly welcoming. We took the overnight Artesia train from Paris to Rome (14 hr ride), wasnt as bad as I thought. I slept mostly the whole way. Although I wouldve loved to see the Swiss Alps but of course when we got to Switzerland it was in the middle of the night! Anyways we arrived the next morning in Rome. Our hotel was ok much more roomier BUT the shower stall was SO SMALL I was banging my elbow against the wall! Luckily,I'm not a big person otherwise there wouldve been issues..lol! Well where to begin...we divided our days..in the afternoon we'd do the sightseeing (must sees-Trevi Fountain, St Peters, Spanish Steps) and then back to the hotel rest up...change..grab a bite to eat..food was awesome..A LOT of pasta and cheese (suffice to say I gained quite a few pounds then at night we'd head out to a club.

We spent a day in Florence, of you want gold and leather this is THE place to buy. There are jewlery shops lined up and down the Ponte del Vecchio ( must see). Since our time was so short in Florence, we saw the big 3-the Duomo, Ponte del Vecchio and of course David. If you do see David either go really early when it first opens or go after 3 when its less crowded. I wish could've seen more.

ATTN ALL LADIES: The guys in Italy are really good looking I met quite a few guys...most from other countrys. I could go on and on about Italy but you just have to go see it for yourself!! A trip definitely worth taking!!

skyllo

Sounds like a great trip, did you do a package deal for all 3 cities? I've been debating whether to spend all my time in Paris or travel to other countries/cities while there--

glk11b

And what was the name of the hotel in Paris? Thanks

maryanne1

Enjoy your post. I feel like you I really liked Paris until I went to Rome-did not get to Florence-spent the whole week in Rome and that was not enough. You were fortunate your traveling companion spoke French. We only knew key phrses and tried to use them,but traveled the whole country for 2 weeks. Nice I realy liked and the Loire Valley.
Sorry you missed the Swiss Alps. We flew over them on our return trip from Rome-so beautiful.
Keep traveling and posting your trips.

tod

Icc1 - Sorry you never lost your heart to Paris although you seemed to like a lot of the food! This is for you, and I quote from Adam Gopnik's book " From Paris to The Moon" -
"There are two kinds of travelers. There is the kind who goes to see what there is to see and sees it, and the kind who has an image in his head and goes to accomplish it. The first visitor has an easier time, but I think the second visitor sees more. He is constantly comparing what he sees to what he wants, so he sees with his mind, and maybe even with his heart, or tries to. If his peripheral vision gets diminished-so that he quite literally sometimes can't see whats coming at him from the suburbs of the place he looks at - his struggle to adjust the country he looks at to the country he has inside him at least keeps him looking. It sometimes blurs, and sometimes sharpens, his eye".
And another quote from him. "We love Paris not out of "nostalgia" but because we love the look of light on things,as apposed to the look of light from things, the world reduced to images radiating from screens. Paris was the site of the most beautiful commonplace civilazation there has ever been; cafes, brasseries, parks, lemons on trays, dappled light on bourgeois boulevards, department stores with skylights, and windows like doors everywhere you look"

mari5

Sounds like a nice trip....but usually how one feels about a city has to do with their experiences there. I have a friend who will NEVER return to Rome, didn't like it at all,,,,but then they were robbed 3 times in the daytime.
Some don't like Paris, and I've heard some say Florence had nothing for them.
SO<<<<<<it kind of boils down to each person, their expectations,what their likes are, their flexibility in a foreign country etc.
My husband and I generally like EVERYPLACE,(some a "tad" more than others) for they are all unique in their own way. We happen to like the countryside and small towns...but then the cities are exciting also, however don't too much about a lot of museums etc..........
Anyway, TO EACH HIS OWN &gt

Linda431

"ATTN ALL LADIES: The guys in Italy are really good looking"

Mari, I just had a 70 year old women (wistfully, while clutching at her heart)tell me that every other man you see in Italy is a heart attack.

lcc1_

Just to answer some questions...
1) hotel in France was called Hotel Des Nations
2) No we did everything separately as it was cheaper for us that way. and yes I highly recommend you see more than one city in europe if you can. You will not need 10 days to see Paris at least the major tourist-sy attractions-louvre, eiffel etc. and take the train if u do visit another city....I kept waiting to see if airfare would go down some with the Paris-Rome leg but it was over $1000 and I checked everywhere! I only spent about $400 for the night train (meals included) this includes Florence also.
3) in response to you Mari....you are partially right about the experience thing. I guess what deflated my picture of paris is some of the people there...I just didnt get that welcoming feeling as I did in Rome. In particular the concierge at the Paris hotel..two were so unaccomodating and RUDE so yeh it kinda put a bad taste in mouth. But I would like to preface to say that not everyone in Paris was rude some were really helpful and nice.

CANT WAIT to get back to Italy though!! Maybe try venice and work my way down to sicily, naples,and the Amalfi Coast which is beautiful I hear

wtggirl

I have been to all three cities and like some others I like most anywhere I travel. Just each place has it's highs and lows and I prefer to focus on the positive. However, I will say I did not expect to like paris as much as I did. But, literally had a lov affair with Paris. I had traveled in Italy a lot before my first trip to Paris (I am 1/2 Italian by the way). Italy is fantastic and Rome was probably my favorite European city before I visited Paris. I will have to say as a whole, Italy is still very true to my heart. The Tuscany area has always been a highlight of my trip, with Sienna being one of my favorite towns to visit from Florence. But, what I found about Paris is that it is a very "liveable" city. I could move there tomorrow. However, as much as I love Rome, I would not want to live there. I would love to have a rental above one of the many market streets that are basically pedestrian (quiet at night). lcc1, I am very sorry you did not connect with Paris. I am a bit of an artist at heart and I think there are some things about Paris that I fell in love with that I just can't put into words. I'll leave that to the poets I guess!

kybourbon

skyllo - There are many budget airlines in Europe. Take a look at the choices for various cities on www.whichbudget.com. Read their luggage weight restrictions and check-in policies before you book.

lcc1 - If you travel this route again, Ryanair flies from Paris BVA to Rome CIA for about 60 E one way. There are shuttle busses available to both airports from the city centers. www.ryanair.com

Rome is my favorite city! My cousin describes it as "like NYC but really old".